I couldn’t help but feel a sigh coming on less than ten minutes into the evening party, thinking, “This is a failure.”
The location was the residence of Count Theodore.
It had already been twenty days since Vander came to bring his engagement congratulations and said, “Come to my territory.”
As I had told him from the beginning, I could have completed the handover in five days. However, while coordinating the travel route and communication with Lady Citroen, as well as obtaining my father’s permission and explaining to the crown prince, so many days had passed.
After all, neither I nor Lady Citroen quite understood the reason for going to Vander’s place.
When the crown prince asked, “What is the purpose of your outing? What are you going for?” I had no answer.
All Vander had said was, “Just come.”
However, it seems that Vander and his father, Count Sheen, had adequately explained to my father. It appeared to be a confidential matter, and the reluctant crown prince seemed to have been satisfied after receiving a direct explanation from my father.
Amidst all this, I sent a letter apologizing for the significant delay in our departure, to which Vander replied, “It can’t be helped. Even though he’s the third son, a prince is leaving the royal capital,” which relieved me a little. He understood that they were making a request of us.
Now, regarding our travel arrangements, if it were just me, it wouldn’t matter much. But when it came to traveling with Lady Citroen, things became rather complicated.
I initially thought about moving between the villas the royal family uses in each season, but the various lords insisted, “You must come to my residence.” In the end, we decided to visit the residences of the lords along the route.
Perhaps they wanted to see Lady Citroen. They were curious about what kind of bride the third son of the king had chosen. For the lords, who usually stayed far away from the royal capital, it was the perfect topic of conversation.
“It seems we will make a public appearance at the residence where we will be staying. Is that okay?” I informed Lady Citroen, and she readily replied in the affirmative.
However, I had thought that we would merely have dinner with the lord’s family.
Thus, during our journey in the carriage, I provided Lady Citroen with a brief overview of the name of the lord we would be staying with, the composition of his family, and the characteristics of his territory, which she memorized to prepare for our arrival.
I never expected such a grand welcome at the first day’s residence.
“Well, when I heard that a prince would be staying, they were very eager to meet you,” Count Theodore said, laughing and shaking his large belly. I also smiled politely in response, tilting my glass.
The strong distilled liquor was reputedly a famous local brew. Honestly, the barrel scent that wafted through my nose was delightful. It seemed like something my second brother would enjoy.
I took another sip and scanned the venue.
The hall, stretching through the first floor of the mansion, was divided into male and female sides, decorated with partitions and ornamental flowers.
Surrounding me were Count Theodore, the host, and his father, along with sons-in-law and various distant relatives. They had just finished the greetings. The elderly nobles slowly moved to their seats and began to puff on their pipes.
By the walls, the young aristocrats, seemingly in their early teens, anxiously watched us. When our eyes met, they offered the kind of awkward greetings one would expect from someone still learning, which was incredibly endearing. They seemed eager to say something, but were occasionally pulled back by their parents.
I wondered if Lady Citroen was doing okay and pretended to scan the hall for her figure.
It seemed she was engaged in conversation with the hostess, Countess Theodore.
I wasn’t worried about her language skills, which were quite impressive. However, I was concerned about her grasp of names and ranks. I hoped she was managing well, feeling a somewhat parental concern.
For security, I had brought along some members of our team, and they were present inside and outside the venue. They would likely report anything that happened…
I planned to discreetly send Raul to her later.
“Ah, but Prince—”
“Yes, yes,” I turned to the circle of conversation, smiling gently.
The man who was laughing amiably in my direction was a middle-aged gentleman. Was he a cousin of the count?
“I heard that when you attended the engagement ceremony in the Caraban United Kingdom, you swept Lady Citroen away, and I couldn’t help but nod, thinking, ‘As expected of the Winter Bear of Tidros!'”
I nearly spat out the distilled liquor I had just sipped. Reflexively swallowing, I erupted into a fit of coughing.
“Are you okay?” “Your Highness!”
I was hastily patted on the back, but I waved my hand to stop them and returned the glass to the butler. Wiping my mouth with a handkerchief, I barely restrained myself from exclaiming, “What?!”
“It seems there are quite a few rumors that differ significantly from the facts.”
Well, “the Winter Bear of Tidros” is accurate, but…
“Oh, is that so?”
All the men in the circle were astonished, and I was taken aback. What sort of rumors were circulating out there?
“Well, I did attend as the queen’s guard… But I witnessed a very rude incident involving Lady Citroen, so as a knight, I merely demanded an apology on her behalf…”
After I explained briefly, everyone voiced their understanding.
“Well, due to that incident, the queen became quite fond of Lady Citroen, leading to this arrangement.”
“Indeed, rumors can be quite unreliable.”
“When you look into the truth like this, it’s entirely different.”
Everyone exchanged glances and laughed. Well, if it were just this level of rumor, it was rather cute.
“Speaking of rumors, Lady Citroen is quite different from the rumors as well,” Count Theodore remarked with a chuckle, his large belly shaking.
“Rumors?”
I tilted my head in confusion.
My first encounter with Lady Citroen was at the engagement ceremony with Crown Prince Arios.
I had no idea if any rumors had been floating around before that. Unfortunately, I was not well-versed in social circles.
“It was said that when she was engaged to Crown Prince Arios, she boasted about being from the Tania Kingdom and possessing dragon patterns,”
“I also heard that she doesn’t come into society because she looks down on the royal family over there.”
Count Theodore and his cousin nodded as they spoke to me. Beside them, high-ranking nobles from the territory hesitantly spoke up.
“Well… it was said that she seemed to have difficulty with language. They speculated she couldn’t enter society because she didn’t speak any foreign languages.”
“They also said she was a spendthrift and mistreated her servants. It was truly awful…”
“Who would say such things?!”
I couldn’t help but exclaim loudly. The surrounding nobles flinched at my outburst. Raul softly called, “Your Highness,” from behind me, prompting me to quickly regain my composure.
“I apologize. I just…”
However, the nobles responded to my rudeness with humility.
“We are sorry as well.”
“Of course, we have greeted Lady Citroen and interacted with her, so we know those rumors are baseless.”
Count Theodore sighed as if he were the representative.
“After all, it was likely the ill rumors spread by Crown Prince Arios, who did not desire a connection with Lady Citroen. In reality, Lady Citroen is quite proficient in foreign languages and shows no signs of boasting about her lineage.”
For some reason, without anyone prompting us, we all glanced towards Lady Citroen, who was present at the venue.
She was currently engaged in conversation with a nearby young lady of similar age, listening attentively and responding. Suddenly, a soft laughter enveloped them, even making the servants nearby smile.
Naturally, the language being used there was Tidros, not her mother tongue.
And when I first met her, she had spoken fluently in the Caraban common language.
She is a talented woman.
She is both beautiful and approachable.
Simply put, it seems that Crown Prince Arios didn’t take Lady Citroen out into society because he wasn’t interested in her, leading to strange rumors and embellishments.
I suddenly thought.
How long has it been since she spoke her mother tongue?
I heard that she left her country two years ago to fit in with the Luminous royal family. After that, she came to marry me.
A total of three years.
She has been living in a foreign land, speaking a foreign language, and wearing foreign clothes.
Considering this background, I felt an indescribable emotion.
That white veil.
To me, it looked like a white cocoon.
If that’s the case…
Is she wearing it to become someone different from the one she was born as, putting in the effort to change herself?
